Clouded Beliefs
by Psychonaut-Hobbit
Summary: Caligosto loved his son, more than anything in this dark and cruel world, but with his beliefs of parenting being clouded by his parent's past judgements, what happens when his son starts unveiling some perverse powers that be never knew he had? Rated T to be safe.


**A/N: Guess who just finished playing RoR ... for the eighth time!**

 **I've wanted to write a Psychonauts fanfic for YEARS (since 2006 pretty much), but I never got around to it just encase there was ever to be a sequel. However, now that I have both a midquel and an upcoming sequel, I think it was about damn time!**

 **So, unless you've been living under a rock while being in the Psychonauts fandom, then you would know about the infamous Loboto being Bobby Zilch's father theory. I have read some very well done fanfics involving this theory, and I have always wanted to write one myself. Now after playing ' _Rhombus of Ruin'_ and finding out Loboto's backstory (FINALLY!) it gave me a LOT more inspiration to write one.**

 **Now, keep in mind that this is meant to be an upcoming chapter to an upcoming fanfic I want to do involving these two eventually, but I won't be writing it until I have finished playing Psychonauts 2 - which won't be for another couple of years. So when that time comes, you will be seeing this story again in that fanfic, only certain little details will be removed. Unless of course Tim Schafer confirms this theory to be false in the upcoming sequel...**

 **Caligosto has his insane moments in this story, but he still has an idenity and sane part of himself before he pretty much fully loses it years later. You don't exactly know how he was before and after the proceedure he had done to him as a child, and you don't know exactly when he lost his moral compass, so I have a feeling he didn't fully lose it until years later after getting many other proceedures done and the nearby psitanium at the asylum completely driving him out of his gord, but that is just my personal thought. You will be reading a lot about him sometimes just standing there thinking and often forgetting things in this story, and I figure he would have that ever since his lobotomy as a child rather than just a flat out insanity problem. Also, I didn't have him lose his right arm yet, and I didn't put him in the showercap.**

 **Lastly, since Bobby is very young in this story, if you see any mistakes like him saying "is" rather than "it's", that was meant to be intentional to stress that not every word he says would be pronounced correctly.**

 **Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy! Please leave some feedback. Especially since this is my very first Psychonauts fanfiction ever. :)**

* * *

Dr. Caligosto Loboto intently examined the orthodontic plier within his lengthy and angular fingers, while his mis-matched cybernetic eyes performed the actual examining task.

The examining was not for the purpose of study or checking, but for simply looking.

"His teeth," the doctor said, out-loud to no one but himself. "I was tempted to not put this beloved and handy instrument anywhere _near_ those nasty things. I mean, was he brought up in a family of carnies? Where he had cotton candy for breakfast and finished the day off with a jumbo hot-dog and candy-apples?"

Immediately shoving the dental tool back in its place on the rusty silver tray without care, Caligosto hurriedly gathered his briefcase, flicked the lights off in his office, and eagerly escorted himself out of the hospital.

Every day was the same — at least for weekdays. Roughed up, damaged, disgusting, unsanitary, and uncanny-colored teeth right there in his line of sight, and not just _any_ line of sight, but through advanced mechanical viewing. The very sight of a grotesquely unkept mouth — whether through zoomed in vision or not — was enough for him to go mad in a matter of seconds.

What didn't help with his predicament was his paitent's lack of humor. For certain paitents, they would have their own little way of displaying their fear and/or uneasyness. Some would reveal it in a wide and forced smile when he would tell a joke or just attempt to be friendly in general, some with their dialated pupils within their often enlarged eyes, and some with actual screaming and crying ... although the latter was mostly in children's cases.

After the lobotomy given to him as a young boy, Caligosto was not a happy person. He walked around almost absent minded, hopeless, and felt like he lost something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but something important.

However, after meeting a certain someone in his life, he wanted to change ... change for the better. To successfully achieve this goal, he had a reliable doctor perform yet another brain surgery on him; a surgery that would make him always happy. The surgery was successful, but it of course had its side effects. He became a little too happy, barely letting any other emotion unveil themselves. Therefore, he contiously allowed doctors to perform numerous types of brain surgeries on him until he felt satisfied with the results.

Now he was indeed happier with a constant perminant smile on his face, and always tried to make the best of his job that he never enjoyed doing in the first place.

Nevertheless, despite all of that struggle while working full hours for a full week, getting off work on a Friday evening was all worth it to see _him_.

Strolling out of the clinic and instead out to the nearly empty parking lot, Caligosto kept an eye out for an all-too-familiar burgundy-red Ford vehicle. He instantly spotted the vehicle with his handy eyesight, but there appeared to be nobody seated in it. Not a driver, nor a passenger.

The lanky and dark-haired man was on the brink of questioning this, until his heart approximately escaped from his chest due to an abrupt touch on the back of one of his long legs, as well as a "boo!"

With his gloved hand clutching his dentist jacket, he turned around and the curved corners of his perminant smiling lips spread even higher past his ears from the recognizable little boy.

"Scared ya, din't I, pop?" the young red-head eagerly asked, standing in a way like he wasn't about to move until he earned a response.

With the hand that clutched his uniform, Caligosto took it away and instead used it to ruffle the enormous-sized puff of hair that was sitting on the five-year-old's head.

"You sure did. Such a naughty little boy," Caligosto responded, playfully.

"Yeah!" the boy cheered, performing a fist-bump in the air for his victory.

A tall and generally plain woman who shared the child's pronounced hair and color — only it was a different shape and in a high ponytail — strolled closer to her ex-lover and watched her son running in zig-zags around the lot.

"Bobby!" the red-headed woman called out. "Watch for the lights!"

"What lights?" Bobby called out, still running in a zig-zag fashion along the white and yellow line markings.

"The traffic lights, sweetie," the woman responded.

Caligosto snickered through his teeth, and then his head threw back in a holler-like laughter. "There are no traffic lights here in a parking lot, Jilian. You silly Sally."

Taking a moment to process everything, Jilian ran her fingers through her thick hair and grinned shyly.

"Right. I just got messed up, what with all of the cars around," she said. "But still, be careful Bobby! Besides, mamma's got to go. Come give me a hug!"

It took a full moment for Bobby to listen, but when he finally did, he raced over to his mother and hugged her quickly, until Jilian pulled him back in to leave sweet little kisses all over his freckled face.

"Mommmm! Cut it out!" Bobby whined, attempting to get free from the torture.

"One last kiss," the woman said, planting one last kiss on her son's forehead.

Jilian kneeled back up and motioned her arms towards Caligosto until she stopped right away, realizing her mistake.

"You seem really happy, Caligosto. I'm glad," Jilian said, softly and caring.

"Oh, I am," Caligosto admitted, joyfully.

Jilian Tonto was not the brightest of people, not even close, but she had a heart of gold, and Caligosto still admired that.

The upbeat mother said her farewells while returning to her car in the lot, and Caligosto rapidly scooped up his son from the ground and positioned him to sit on his shoulders. Bobby laughed gleefully and held onto the man's head full of dark and unkept hair.

Caligosto's home was only five minutes away, and it was always a nice walk there.

"How is school going for you, Robert?" Caligosto asked, giving his offspring a bit of a shake as he walked.

"Kinda boring," Bobby replied, with a bit of left over laughter from the shaking.

"You're telling me!" Caligosto said. "Well, obviously not school for _me_."

The doctor laughed too hard at his own joke.

"But for work," he continued. "My paitents are always such party-poopers. They must be from Mars or something because I could swear that they don't grasp the concept of 'humor'. Just today I was performing a certain proceedure on a man with the worst teeth imaginable, and during, I used my handy orthodontic plier to make it look like it's talking with the beak on the end of it — I called him Mr. Ortho — and the paitent stared at me like I was MAD! It was no fun."

Bobby giggled from the story and then asked, "What's a orphadenic ... whatcha' ma call it?"

"An orthodontic plier," Caligosto corrected, raising his lengthy index finger in the air. "There are different types with different uses. The one I used today was used to hold his teeth in place after surgery."

"I hate surgery. Yuck," Bobby said, his tongue sticking out.

"Ahh, but you need it, son. Everybody does," the man stated. "You're lucky your teeth are currently in good shape. Or else daddy would have to disown ya."

"Dad!" Bobby panicked.

"You need to learn how to take a joke, son," Caligosto chuckled, ironically sincere. "Just like my paitents."

"But that wasn't even funny," Bobby pouted.

"Of course it is!" Caligosto argued.

Bobby didn't say anything, he could only yawn.

"Ooh, sounds like someone is tired," Caligosto declared.

"No I'm not," Bobby quietly disagreed.

"Excellent!" Caligosto cheered. "I'm going to let you stay up for a little longer. You don't need to sleep right away. That's no fun."

"Awesome," Bobby approved, his head sinking lower so it was practicially resting on his father's head.

Just a minute away from home, Caligosto's talking had not yet reached a conclusion, but it took a while for the man to notice that the child on his shoulders wasn't contributing anything to the conversation. When he finally went silent, the sound of heavy inhaling and exhaling through the mouth was heard directly in his right ear. That's when he knew that the child was asleep.

When the doctor and his sleeping son arrived home, the first thought on the man's mind was to flick on the lights in the average sized house — except for Bobby's room — and when he got there, he gently lifted Bobby from his shoulders and laid him down on his bed with his stitched up but still huggable teddy bear.

After pulling the blanket up to his small shoulders, Caligosto took a moment to watch his son peacefully sleep with very light snoring; he was growing up so fast.

Every time looking at the boy's freckled shoulders and face and pronounced orange hair, Caligosto was reminded of the boy's mother. He couldn't deny that his feelings for Jilian did not leave completely. Afterall, Jilian was the very person who inspired him to be happier. These thoughts did not linger on Caligosto's mind for any longer however, and he just stood there, trying to remember what he was doing.

* * *

The following day, Caligosto made certain that his planned out fun events to do for the entire day went according to plan. He allowed his son to sleep in that morning — he understood how grumpy kids could get, especially for a full week of starting school — and even without waking up, Bobby still woke up at a good time just before noon.

The little boy quietly snuck into his father's room and noticed him lying on the bed. Step by step he got closer and closer. It was always tough to know for sure if he was ever asleep with those non-blinking "eyes", but he went by the movement of his laying body. Right at that moment the man's breathing was slow and steady, and he didn't seem to notice his presence, so Bobby was convinced that he was asleep. When he set to pounce, _he_ was the one to scream when the man stretched out his long arms to heave the startled child towards him.

"Hey! No fair," Bobby complained, attempting to break free.

"Nonesense! You always winning is not fair. It's my turn!" Caligosto disputed, imitating noises of a prediator catching its prey.

While the laughing and playing continued, they heard a light thump hit the floor.

The two colored lights in Caligosto's eye sockets zoomed out towards the direction of the floor for the source of the thump.

"Oohh! Sorry, Mr. Bear," the man apologized to the lifeless plush, picking it up from the floor. "We gotta be really careful with Mr. Bear, you know. He's been ripped apart quite enough."

The pale-turquoise skinned boy retrieved the somewhat heavy plush from his parent's hands and held it himself.

"Now, go and wash up!" Caligosto demanded light heartedly. "We have a big day ahead of us!"

Bobby hopped off of the bed, placed Mr. Bear on a chair and ran into the washroom that was just in the next room over.

He was just like his father when he was his age, never complaining about taking a bath, and always having fun while taking one.

Caligosto joined the child in the bathroom and turned the faucets until they formed just the right temperature. He stood there until Bobby said, "You can go now, pappa."

"Now, why would I do that?" You need to be cleaned up," Caligosto said, leaning down to Bobby's level.

"Pappaaaa. I'm five. I can wash up by myself," Bobby fussed.

"You mean after last time when you had that brilliant idea of staying under water for five minutes? Haha, I don't think so!" Caligosto chuckled, poking his offspring's pink freckled nose.

"But daaaaadd!"

"Ah ah ah! Don't give me that, son. Now go ahead and change. I won't peak," the father said, going by his word by looking the opposite direction and blocking the lens of his cybernetic eyes.

Bobby yearned to protest, but he knew there was no point.

Once changed and sliding into the hot and fragrant smelling bubbled water, Caligosto turned around and playfully threw a rubber duck from the basket of bath toys right next to the sink over to the five-year-old's arm.

The adolescent uttered a sound of pain but with a giggle as he splashed the water in the man's direction. Caligosto seated himself on the faced-down toliet seat and threw all of the toys in the tub at the same time. One by one, from a pufferfish, to a boat, to a rubber ducky, to a starfish. All landing with a splash as they hit the warm soapy water.

There were so many activities Caligosto and his cherished son would do over the years, months, weeks, and days, but out of everything, this was the most precious moment for them to share. It was just the two of them in a private place where there was no judgements, and not a care in the world. Caligosto would wash the child's puffy hair while the child was motioning for the toys to dive underwater, crash against each other, or to splash, while the rest of the time Caligosto would play the game along with him. There was never a winner nor a loser, but that never made it any less fun.

When out of the bath and reaching for the towel that was now placed on the toliet seat rather than Caligosto, Bobby saw unfamiliar pieces of folded up clothing underneath.

"Those ain't my clothes," the boy pointed out, keeping the towel around his body.

"They are now," Caligosto stated, unfolding the white t-shirt stacked at the very top. On the shirt was a green-striped sailor collar, puffed up with short sleeves, and a small golden round crest with a star in the centre, right on the breast pocket.

"I wore these when I was a little boy myself," Caligosto explained. "I was ten years-old, but I think that you'll fit into it, or at least grow into it."

Bobby was not the type of kid to enjoy trying on new clothes. If it were up to him he could wear the same thing every day, but he knew his father wouldn't drop it if he didn't, so he did — with yet another turn to the opposite direction from his father while doing so.

The second Caligosto was given permission to turn around, he was overwhelmed with joy from what he was seeing. The size of the clothes weren't too much of an issue as he thought it would be, but Bobby was growing quite quickly.

"It's perfect! I knew it would be," Caligosto said, blinded by his own joy and pride.

To complete the dress up, Caligosto stapped a pair of his old goggles onto Bobby's small eyes and properly adjusted them.

Bobby clearly enjoyed trying on the goggles much more than the actual clothes.

The only thing missing from the outfit was the rubber boots he used to wear, but Bobby's feet were much thicker than his, so it was for the best that they were not found.

With the uniform on, they eventually left to their usual Saturday afternoon place: the docks.

They would fish for hours on end, but Bobby would be inattentive easily if there weren't too many bites and catches. Caligosto would joke in the meantime, ranging from bad puns to actual knee slappers, or just driftless ones that had nothing to do with what they were doing. However, during his state of boredom, Bobby brought up, "Ain't there some other way of catchin' these fish?"

"Not unless we had a net," Caligosto replied. "Or we somehow morphed into a bear to swipe them with our claws, or a pelican to..."

"Ok ok," Bobby interrupted. "Ya know, someone named Timothy from my class at school had a comic book called "Real Pychik stories" or somethin' like that , and the guy in the comic could pick up fish from the water usin' just his hand!"

"I think you mean _psychic_ , son," Caligosto said, his tone suddenly sounding intense and serious, which startled Bobby. "That is not a normal thing to do. People who do that sort of thing get punished."

"Why? Is it bad?" Bobby questioned, suddenly frightened.

"What is?" Caligosto asked, his mind briefly running away.

"The guy using...psy-kic powers," Bobby answered, so used to his father's atrocious memory span that he wasn't irritated nor confused.

"Psychic powers are evil! They are not right in the head," Caligosto lectured, making his finger do a "crazy" motion.

"Oh," Bobby said, staring down at the still water filled with splotches of green.

To — better or for worse — interrupt the sudden uncomfortable vibe, Bobby felt a light yank coming from the end of his fishing rod.

Every time in the past, present, and most likely future, when either of them would catch a fish, before throwing it back into the water, the doctor would go in depth about the different species of fish, as well as other "funfacts", which was only interesting the first few times. They always caught the same kind of fish for two years, and Bobby would bring this up everytime, only to have his father mention that he forgot.

* * *

Besides taking basic breaks to eat or get a drink for the rest of their Saturday, Caligosto and his son at some point walked to the nearest park.

Unlike the other activities they would do together, the together part only really consisted about a quarter of their time there. Bobby told Caligosto to sit by the benches so he wouldn't risk embaressing him again. When Caligosto would question this, Bobby reminded him of their previous times at the park where he would scare away anyone who would even consider actually playing with Bobby just from his appearance and questionable behavior. Believing that was a validated enough answer — although he was hesitent — Caligosto agreed to sit by the benches and simply watch him play until a certain point.

Meanwhile after sitting at the benches for what felt like an eternity, Bobby finally approached his father, but not for the reason that Caligosto was hoping.

"Pop, nobody wants to hang out with me still," Bobby mumbled cheerlessly.

Caligosto removed his hand away from his elbow and directed his attention over to the puffy-haired child.

"Ridiculous! Why wouldn't they want to hang out with _you_?" Caligosto said.

"I keep tellin' ya, pop!" Bobby fussed. "They are mean to me. They keep makin' fun of my hair and my eyes. Callin' me ugly and freak. Pop, why are my eyes two diff'rent colors? Why do I look so diff'rent?"

"Don't listen to the those bad little boys and girls!" Caligosto advised, loud enough for any person nearby to hear. "You are not a freak, or ugly. Remember, you got your eyes from me. "

"But your eyes are those weird ... light things," Bobby pointed out, pointing towards the bulbs in his father's eye sockets.

"That is true," the dark-haired man acknowledged. "But I was born with the exact same colors. One of your grandmother's and one of your grandfather's. They were never ashamed of it, unlike everything else in my life..."

"Like what?" Bobby asked, his head tilted to the side.

Caligosto went silent, and Bobby stood there uncomfortably, just waiting.

"My parents always wanted the best for me," he eventually said. "Now go back over there and keep on playing! At least one of those happy little children would want to hang out with you."

The orange-haired boy groaned and without direct eye contact, he mumbled, "Fine."

Bobby obeyed his father's orders and returned over to the fairly crowded playground.

Observing his son trying out every single equipment in the park with a joyful spirit despite being alone made Caligosto realize just how much he enjoyed watching him enjoy himself. Especially when he saw a kind little boy being nice to him and joining him in playing with the sand.

"Ahh! I told you!" Caligosto practicially called out to his now embaressed child.

Bobby shielded his face and kept his head down, and his new friend fortunately didn't leave because of it.

Caligosto optimistically chuckled. He loved his son more than anything in this cruel and dark world, and so to see him enjoying himself was more than words can describe. And with their little agreement, before they headed back home, Caligosto pushed his son on the swing until the sun was set.

* * *

Sunday quickly arrived, so that means that Bobby would soon have to leave. It was always a bittersweet day. The joy of spending another day with him, but the pain of seeing him leave.

On this Sunday morning, Caligosto stood in front of his wall, clearly not staring at anything paticular in his usual pose of "deep-thinking", when suddenly came a scream, and then, "Pappa!"

That was enough for the pale lanky man to cease with his thoughts and turn his head.

"Robert?" Caligosto said, his voice rising in fear.

Without thinking, the man ran out of the bedroom and into Bobby's.

Upon entering, Caligosto was surprised to not see any signs of distress.

"What's wrong, Robert? What happened?" Caligosto questioned.

"Pop, look! You gotta look!" the child exclaimed, extending out his hand.

His small hand shaped into a claw-like state, and Caligosto observed, puzzled about what was happening.

Bobby grunted impaitently from nothing happening. His hand aimed for the nearest toy he had in his room, but the item didn't even stir.

"I just had it!" Bobby complained.

The second Caligosto was on the urge of speaking, Bobby disrupted with, "Wait, I gonna try this!"

The red-head brought his free hand up to his lobe and started to shake.

"Robert, what are you-"

"Shhh!" Bobby commanded. "I think I'm gettin' it!"

Slowly and slightly, the toy began to alterate from position, and then elavate to the air with just a motion of his hand.

"Pappa! Look!" Bobby cheered, lifting the toy up higher.

Caligosto took a step back with an exaggerated gasp.

The toy abruptly fell to the ground, and Bobby looked disappointed again, but that didn't overcome his current pride.

"Robert! What have you done?" Caligosto panicked.

"Umm, I forgot what is called, but that's what that guy in that comic was doin'. I di'nt know I could do it, but I can!" Bobby said, happily.

"Young man, have I _not_ told you about using preverse powers? Those powers aren't natural!" Caligosto barked.

"But, I'm not doin' anythin' bad. And that guy in the comic was just fishin', but not with that rod thingy," Bobby quietly argued, still taken aback from his father's very sudden anger.

"Don't talk back to me, you bad little boy," Caligosto beseeched, his hands placed firmly on his waist.

"Sorry," Bobby apologized, his head down not from shame, but not being able to look at his parent's expression.

Hearing footsteps wander over to him, and then a hand rest on his shoulder, Bobby reluctantly looked up.

"Son, you must understand that pesky people posessing preverse powers perpetually pay PAINFUL penalties," the man said.

"Huh?" Bobby asked, barely understanding a word his father was saying.

"Shh shh shushy!" Caligosto said, resting a finger on his offspring's lips. "Don't worry, I know exactly what to do."

Without waiting for any sort of response, Caligosto theateningly latched onto the five-year-old by the hand and stopped by the closet. Once there, he opened the closet door and shoved him inside.

"Pop?" Bobby questioned, his heart beating fiercly when he saw the door starting to close, now seeing nothing but darkness. "POP!"

Caligosto locked the closet from the outside and simply stood right there.

"LET ME OUT!" Bobby pleaded, attempting to bust the doors open with his hands and then his fists.

"Not with that negative attitude," Caligosto scolded. "You're staying in there until you learn what you've done wrong, young man."

"But I di'nt do anythin'!" Bobby argued.

"Ah! See? Wrong!" Caligosto said. "Try again."

"Pop, if this is just another joke ... is not funny!" Bobby shouted, still slamming at the door with all of his might.

"You're right. It's not funny, but that's because it's not a joke. You need to take this seriously, Robert," Caligosto stated, crossing his arms.

"DAD!" Bobby yelled as loud as he possibly could.

"Take it easy! Sheesh. You'll be let out eventually, but keep in mind — get it? Because you are using those powers with your MIND?" Caligosto laughed, getting side tracked. "Anyway, keep in mind that if I ever catch you performing these powers again, your penalties will only get worse, so straighten up and fly right!"

Bobby's body started to shake with his fear taking over, especially when he heard his father's footsteps sounding more and more faint to the point where he couldn't hear them anymore. All he wanted to do was plead and slam the door, but he realized that there was no point; his father was not going to let him out ... at least yet. But most of all, he wanted to yell about how much he hated him, even though that would not help his situation in the slightest. He did hate him though, he hated him so much. How could he do this to him? All he did was lift a toy in the air! Bobby curled himself up either in the centre of the closet or the corner — he honestly couldn't tell — so his arms were draped around his knees and his head rested right on top of them. His palms and fists were aching from the constant slamming against the door, and so was his throat from holding back his tears. The tears were not held back for long however, and so his face burried into his knees while warm streaks of tears travelled down his cheeks and onto the fabric of his pants.

* * *

 **A/N: Man, that last part was not easy to write :( I figure Caligosto would love his son, but he would repeat his parent's mistakes like a cycle because he believed that what they were doing was the right thing and that having such powers WAS evil.**

 **Just three more things I wanted to say:**

 **1\. It's hard to say whether Bobby has met his grandparents or not, so I decided to leave it up to interpretation.**

 **2\. The bear that Bobby has is the same bear shown in Caligosto's crib as a baby, oh and shown in the asylum in the first game, for, some odd but heart-breaking reason.**

 **3\. The idea for Bobby's mother literally just came from a random thought I was having which was, "What if his mother was really dumb?" So I decided to go with it. Also, I made her last name Tonto which is Spanish for "fool." I figured I should stick with the Psychonauts tradition of giving characters terrible but at the same time accurate last or first names like Loboto, Nein, Zilch, Morry, and so on. Speaking of Zilch, no I did not make her last name Zilch. Why? Because I have a head-canon that Bobby gets taken away and adopted by another family, so it would be THEIR last name.**


End file.
